Telephone-mouthpiece.



W. BOOTH.

TELEPHONE MOUTHPIECE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-12.19%.

Patented-Sept. 18, 1917.

UNITE STATES PATENT onmon'.

.WILLIAM BOOTH, OF EAST LIVERPOOL, OHIO.

TELEPHONE-MOUTHPIECE.

T 0 all whom z'zf mag concern.

Be itiknown that I, WILLIAM Boo'rrr, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Liverpoohin the county of Columbiana and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone- Mouthpieces, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates toan improved telephone mouthpiece and has as its primary object'to provide a device of this character whichlmay be readilyconnected to substantially any conventional type of telephone and of such construction that the mouthpiece will provide a sanitary attachment for the telephone tending-tominimize the possibility of infection therefrom.

The invention' has-as-a further object to provide a mou thpiece formed to focus the sound-waves therein to be delivered to the telephone transmitter with a corresponding resultant increase in the clearness in the reproduction of thesaid waves.

"And theinventimrhas as a still further object-to provide a mouthpiece having a sound post through which the sound waves are transmitted and formedat its inner extremity todistribute' said-waves to the diaphragm of the receiver with a. consequent increased action of the-said waves upon the saiddiaph'ragmwhereby the efficiency of the telephone-will be correspondingly increased.

Otherand incidental objects will appear as the description proceeds and in the drawings wherein I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention and-wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views Figure 1 isa perspective view showingmy improved mouthpiece applied to a conventional type of telephone, the telephone being partly broken away,

Fig. 2 is a sectional View more particularly showing the manner in which the mouthpiece is connected to the telephone transmitter,

Fig.3 is a sectional view of the mouthpiece particularly showing the construction of the sound post thereof and the attaching ring which-is arranged to surround the said post and adapted for connection to the telephone transmitter, and

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the device.

In order that the construction, operation Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept 18, 191 '7;

- Application filed September 12', 1916.

Serial No; 119,744.

and mounting of my'inventionmay be e11- tirely clear, I have in the drawing illus trated the device in connection with aconventional typeof telephone having a transmitter 10 closed by a cap plate 11 and carrying the usual diaphragm 12.

Coming now moreparticularly to the subjectof thepresent invention, the mouthpiece is formed with. an annular body 13-terminating-at its inner extremity in an outwardly flared or bell-shaped flange or rim 14. Ex tending :inwardly from the body 13 toward the free edge of the rim 1% isasubstantially bell-shaped bowl 15 having its larger end presented outwardly to receive the sound waves. Formed on the inner side of the bowl, at its smallerend, is a laterally projectingcylindricalsound post 16 surrounded by an annular channel 17, the outer wall of which is screw threaded as shown at 18. The body 18, the bowl 15, and post 16 are, as illustrated in the drawings, integrally formed preferably from; porcelain orother similarv material.

Seated in thechannel 17 is an annular attaching ring ormember 19 which loosely surrounds ,the post 16 and is externally screw threaded to engage the threads 18 upon the bowl 15. The ring 19 is preferably formed of metal, and filling the space between the said ring and the post 16 is a suitable plastic filler 20 forming, as particularly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, a rigid connection between the ring and the said post, this filler also-serving to lock the ring uponv the bowl and support the said ring with respect to the outer threaded wall of' the-channel 17 so that this wall and the said post will coact to'receive any strain upon the ring. Consequently, any. tendency of the ring to break the bowl and post 16, under such strain, will be reduced to a minimum.

The post 16, at its inner extremity, is formed with a-concave sound diifusing face or terminal 21- and leading through the said post from the interior of the bowl 15 at its smaller end are a plurality of longitudinally inclined sound channels 22 which converge at their inner extremities toward the axis I of the post or toward the center of the said cap plate 11 of the transmitter 10 for connecting the mouthpiece with the transmitter as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and it will now be observed that the rim 14 is of a diameter substantially equal to that of the transmitter to overlie the said cap. The in nor face of the bowl 15 is glazed or otherwise formed with a smooth surface so that sound waves directed into the said bowl will be collected thereby and directed through the channels 22 to emer e centrally of the sound diffusing face 21 0% the post 16. This concave face will then act to diffuse the said sound waves to strike against the area of the diaphragm 12 of the transmitter. All of the sound waves coming within the bowl 15 will thus be collected to be transmitted to the diaphragm 12 with a correspondingly resultant increased action upon the part of the said transmitter in reproducing the said waves. Moreover, the converging channels 22 will act to further center the said sound waves to be delivered into the concave face 21 of the post 16 in such a manner that the said face will act to diffuse the said waves equally in all directions to the diaphragm 12 and thus cause an increased action of the sound'waves upon the said diaphragm with a resultant clearness in the reproduction of the sound waves thereby. I thus provide a particularly efficient construction for the purpose set forth and by forming the body of the mouthpiece of porcelain, the said mouthpiece may easily be cleaned while, at the same time, the smooth surface thereof will tend to prevent the collection of germs upon the mouthpiece and consequently, the mouthpiece will thus providea sanitary attachment for the telephone tendin to minimize the possibility of infection t erefrom. Mounted upon the attaching ring 19 to extend radially therefrom beneath the rim lt of the mouthpiece is a tag 23. This tag may be formed of celluloid or other suitable material and at its inner extremity is provided with a suitable opening to receive the ring 19 with the outer extremity of the said tag preferably widened and extended beyond the periphery of the mouthpiece to re-- ceive the number of the telephone or other suitable indicia. By screwing the ring 19 in the cap 11 of the transmitter, the tag 23 v may be tightly clamped between the said cap and the rim 14 of the mouthpiece for securely holding the said tag in position, and

it will be noted that I thus provide an arrangement wherein the use of any metal parts about the mouthpiece in such position that the breath of the user of the telephone would come in contact therewith, is eliminated so that the sanitary feature of the device is thus accordingly enhanced.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A telephone mouthpiece including a body provided with a sound receiving bowl, a sound post projecting from the inner extremity of the bowl, the bowl being formed with a channel to surround the said post and there being a sound receiving channel formed through the said post to communicate with the bowl, an attaching member for the mouthpiece carried thereby and seated in said first mentioned channel to surround the said post, and a filler between the said member and the post.

2. A telephone mouthpiece including a body provided with a sound receiving bowl a sound post arranged at the inner end of said bowl and provided at its outer extremity with a concave sound diffusing face, there being a plurality of sound receiving channels formed through the said post to communicate with the bowl with the said channels converging at their outer extremities towards the axis of the post to emerge through the central portion of the said sound diffusing face, and an attaching member for the mouthpiece carried by the said bowl.

3. A telephone mouthpiece including a body provided with a sound receiving bowl, a sound post projecting from the inner extremity of the bowl, the bowl being formed with a channel to surround the said post and there being a sound receiving channel formed through the said post to communicate with the bowl, an attaching member for the mouthpiece carried thereby and seated in said first mentioned channel to surround the post, and locking means connecting the said member with the bowl and interposed between the member and said post.

4. A telephone mouthpiece including a body provided with a sound receiving bowl, a sound post projecting from the inner extremity of the bowl, the bowl being formed with a channel to surround the said post and there being a sound receiving channel formed through the said post to communicate with the bowl, an attaching member for the mouthpiece carried thereby and seated in said first mentioned channel, and means interposed between the said member and the post for reinforcing the post.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

I WVILLIAM BOOTH. [n 5.]

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

